England cannot afford to ignore their biggest concern at Women’s Euro 2025

As Sarina Wiegman got back to England’s Dolder Grand base at around 2am on Friday morning, she found she still couldn’t quite think rationally. The quarter-final against Sweden had been too chaotic, too emotional, with the manager even admitting she’d never been in a game like it.

And you could easily say that was just the penalties.

Some of her relieved players were already reflecting on a hugely difficult night, however. A common line was that “we should have gone out five times in one game”.

Wiegman admitted there were at least three times where she thought England were out of the Euros (Getty Images)

There was the early 2-0 deficit, the Hannah Hampton save early in the second half, the fact that they didn’t have a midfield in extra-time and then the penalties themselves. Had Swedish goalkeeper Jennifer Falk not taken the final regulation kick, England would likely be on their way home from Euro 2025. It wasn’t quite a case of finding a way to win. It was that Sweden somehow lost.

All of which goes against the customary narrative in such games, that a resolve was shown. There were some defiant moments, and big challenges, but was this really “resolve”? Or was it blind luck?

England clearly benefited from a lot of the latter. You would even say it of the bounce of some late chances, from Sweden’s corners to Michelle Agyemang’s equaliser.

If it is mostly luck, of course, this isn’t necessarily damning in itself. Almost every eventual champion has at least one such game along the way. Spain arguably had it in 2023 with the Netherlands. England themselves had it in Euro 2022 against Spain.

The greater question is if there’s a pattern. Are England grinding their way through, as we saw in 2023. Or, are they just about surviving until the inevitable?

It doesn’t help that their performances have oscillated as wildly as the emotional momentum in the quarter-final shoot-out. They’re bad when you expect them to be good, and good when you expect them to be bad.

It looked far too easy for Sweden to go 2-0 up in the quarter-final (Getty Images)

Of England’s four games, they have only looked convincing against two sides that just weren’t near the top level. That is no slight on Wales, since this was their debut tournament and they are developing. The Netherlands, however, were not worthy of the respect they were given before England’s 4-0 win. It now looks like there was really little danger at all. And while it can be said that England subjected the Dutch to that, one of the most notable stats in the game was Wiegman’s side winning 46 out of 48 duels.

That doesn’t just come from your own quality. The Dutch were dismal. Against France, it was 37 from 89.

And this is where the real concern is. England have looked deeply unconvincing against two sides with high technical quality that knew how to set up against them.

That doesn’t suggest grinding through. In truth, since the 2023 World Cup match against Nigeria, they have looked increasingly susceptible to high pressing and pace. There isn’t really that much speed in Wiegman’s team, outside Lauren Hemp. Worse, England seem to have so few solutions when Keira Walsh is pressed.

England cannot allow their comeback against Sweden to cover up from what went wrong in the first half (Getty Images)

Maybe the biggest worry is that Wiegman has not yet properly responded to any of this, at least in terms of starting line-ups. The performance against Sweden involved all of the same issues as the France game, but also previous defeats to Germany and Australia under Wiegman.

It is like England are repeatedly trying to do similar things in the hope they come off, only for the manager to then show her actual tactical aptitude by responding mid-game. This is where Wiegman has shown that nous. Her gamble in the Swedish game, right down to the timing of subs, ultimately paid off.

Usually, they would ill-afford another slip as the final gets closer and stakes get higher, but Italy are forgiving opponents for this stage of the competition.

They will have seen a blueprint on how to beat England, sure, but they may struggle to sustain the application to fully enact it. This isn’t to write Italy off. There’s just that sense of a team that has already massively overachieved by getting this far.

Cristiana Girelli scored twice against Norway to send Italy through (Getty Images)

England have mostly underperformed but are here, as confusing as they are compelling. This is now what Wiegman has to figure out. The video analysis of Sweden, however, may just take some time. It’s just as well there are four days until that semi-final.